“ CAT Coaching for the Brave”
A cold wind blew through the trees, creating the illusion of a long and undulating painful song. It almost seemed like the trees themselves were wailing this dreary tune, as the snow fell and clung over their dead branches. As the cold and dreary forest remained unlit by anything except the moonlight, the song of the trees saw a peculiar audience. This audience left behind their footsteps in the snow, as their heaving breaths shown like smoke coming out of a hot furnace. With tongues drawn out and teeth bared, the pack of wolves continued moving forward through the wilderness, searching for something unknown.
“A peculiar thing about wolves is that their packs have a highly intricate hierarchy,” my dad stated in a calm manner as I weaned my attention off the television for a moment.
“The ones in the front are the weakest, and this hierarchy keeps building up till the end of the pack, where the alpha resides.”
As I looked at the television again with this new perspective, the screen showed a large black wolf that was howling up at the moon in majestic mystery. Even though it seemed quite similar to the other wolves, there was something in the way it carried its savagery and primal majesty that made it stand out.
Suddenly, the camera turned to the far end of the mountain, away from the pack, where the trees gave way to blizzards of hail and storm. Here, amidst snow-capped crevices, a white figure stood unmoving in the mist. As it became more and more visible, the figure turned out to be a wolf that looked as pale as the frozen wasteland that it stood in.
“Have you heard about the lone wolf, son?” The question that my Dad threw at me seemed like the start of a conversation filled with mysticism.
Well, even though that conversation was immensely intriguing, I understood the importance of being a lone wolf only while sitting in the last bench of the classroom of a CAT coaching institute.
The Human Pack
Humans are dependent on each other; that is just the way we have been created. We need each other more than we think we do. At the same time, the urge to compete with each other is also embedded in our psyche. One look at the education system of today, and we see glimpses of both these urges being nurtured. The education system is the tool that is used to fan the fires of some of our most primal urges.
Almost all coaching institutes work on the philosophy and the practice of encouraging a competitive spirit amongst the pupils. It is this need to compete and rise above opposition that also results in the formation of internal groups within classrooms. Yes, you might have observed how certain type of students club together with others, such as nerds, sports enthusiasts, gossip girls and so on. Most of the times, these groups may also be defined by perceived intellectual ability of the members, AKA “marks”. You might observe how the species of “nerds” tend to move away from groups like the “backbenchers” or the “artsy types”.
The Individual
If our need to compete is removed from an institutional setting, we might eventually find ourselves getting isolated from each other. As I watched the different groups moving about like wolf packs, the image of the lone wolf came into my mind. I pictured a caricature of myself standing atop the hill of CAT preparation books, as the stormy hail of CAT questions fell all around me. This is when I wondered about what it would be like if all that stood between the CAT exam and me was my own inhibitions to learn outside the box.
I remembered my Dad telling me that lone wolves are either driven out of the pack or are too weak to continue traveling with the pack. This point coincided with the first step that I took towards moving away from an institutional mode of training. Would self-study make me an outcast among other students, thus crippling my chances to excel in the examination? What would happen to me if I opted for a mode of study that was different from what most students opted for?
Most students find it extremely daunting to go against the herd mentality when it comes to CAT preparation. The fear of indulging in online study for CAT on their own can cause a lot of anxiety and stress. Another element that can be especially troubling for any lone wolf is the prospect of letting go of the structured patterns of teaching that coaching institutes follow. Plunging into the world of self-study can be extremely chaotic and might be considerably taxing on the student.
The Process of Liberation
A PRAQTICAL Opinion: There are several students who have made the most out of self-preparation for CAT. A quote by a student named Punnu Haniya summarizes the immense potential of self-study. He had this to say about self-study, “No class room coaching can teach aptitude, it is inherent in the system of the human body.”
Once you step into the world of self-study, the opportunities that arise for you are endless. With just the right amount of discipline and conviction, one can create complete structures of learning that are tailored to personal preferences and abilities. Even though this freedom can be scary for some, many students have plunged into the art of self-study and emerged victorious.
The absence of a classroom environment can open up windows of exploration, such as CAT preparation online courses and tutorials. The internet, if used wisely, can be an extremely useful resource pool for overcoming any obstacles while preparation. Self-study can also help you target the core of CAT preparation, which is embodied in the following message: CAT is not about how good your technical knowledge is; it is about how well you can apply your knowledge practically.
If you have failed in your previous attempts at CAT, or are overburdened by your work, it is probably time to become a lone wolf. The extent to which this liberation can teach you about time management and self-discipline is higher than the scope that any coaching institute provides. The prospect of self-study also opens up doors for innovative and creative ways to complete the CAT syllabus. This includes creating study circles or groups which have periodic group sessions to enable systematic preparation.
Let us have a PRAQTICAL look at the differences between online preparation and classroom coaching – that will help you decide for yourself.
| Online Coaching for CAT | CAT Coaching through Institutes |
| Personal empowerment through one to one attention | Lack of personal attention due to increased focus on classroom teaching |
| Increased freedom for customization of study pattern | Limited freedom due to fixed syllabus and methods of teaching |
| Increased level of personalization as far as time periods and choice of study material is concerned | Decreased level of personalization due to fixed classroom structure |
| Lack of distractions due to the solitary mode of study | Increased distraction due to group study and discussions |
| Increased creative freedom for study arrangement, which could give rise to increased interest in the subject | Decreased creative freedom for structuring and study arrangement, which could result in a decreased level of interest in the subject |
Preparing for CAT by leaving behind the systems of coaching institutes can be an intense learning experience. However, as you can see from the table above, the pros of online self-study for CAT are more numerous as compared to classroom learning.
So, would you like to be a lone wolf and resort to creating your own path towards success in CAT? Let us know your strategies in the comments section.
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Image Sources:
[1]: https://in.pinterest.com/pin/451556300112013807/
[3]: http://blog.simplylearnt.com/2015/07/how-to-manage-self-study-with-school-and-coaching.html